Behind his success
by twilightlover179
Summary: Edward thinks he and Bella aren't right for each other anymore and should go their own ways. When their assigned 6 months of separation he thinks otherwise. Follow him as he faces the beauties of separation from the love of his life. i don't own anything.
1. Chapter 1

I wanted a divorce from her.

I had no clue as to why we even were at this stage but I do know that things escalated quickly.

For some reason I decided to listen in on the conversation she was having with the lawyer. I have no clue as to what possessed me but I felt the need to.

From where I was sitting in the hall I could see her face and the back of the lawyer's head.

They shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you Mrs. Cullen." he said shaking her hand.

She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. These days it never did.

"Likewise Mr. Thomas." She said shaking his hand.

Her voice was monotone.

"Please call me Andrew." He said sitting down.

She followed his move.

"Then call me Bella" she said with her hands under the table, hidden from my view.

"So do you want this divorce?" Andrew asked.

"In truth, I don't." she said sighing.

What?!? I thought she wanted this.

"Then why are you agreeing to this divorce?" Andrew asked clearly confused.

She laughed a humorless laugh.

" Because I love him, and I've always wanted the best for him and if this marriage is what is holding him back then who am I to interfere with his life?" she asked quietly.

"You don't have any say in this?" Andrew asked suspicious.

She smiled but it still wasn't a real one.

"Of course I do, he may want a divorce from me but that doesn't me he forced me into this, I made sure he thought this was a mutual decision, though how he believed that is comical because I can't lie to save my life. My husband was and still is attentive of what those around him want. He's extremely selfless." She said smiling wistfully.

"Aren't you also selfless?" Andrew asked.

She shook her head disagreeing.

"I've been selfish more than anything. I took his love for granted and to know that I don't have that anymore still hurts." She said softly looking down at her hands.

My heart still belonged to her.

She was extremely selfless not me. She loved me wholeheartedly.

He reached over the desk and stroked her arm and she flinched away cringing. I smiled to myself. She never let anyone except me touch her anymore.

"Alright you and your husband have been assigned to 6 months of separation." He said sifting his papers.

She just nodded.

"Goodbye Mr. Thomas." she said getting up and walking to the door.

He grabbed her wrist as she passed him. She glared at him, a glare she never used on anyone. He still didn't let her go though.

"When your divorce is final so you want to get together for coffee sometime?" he asked hopefully.

She smiled.

My breathing hitched. She wouldn't accept would she? What am I thinking? I won't have any ties to her then she is free to do as she pleases. Then why does it hurt so much?

"Mr. Thomas as much as I appreciate your offer I can't." She said wriggling her tiny wrist out of his grasp.

"Why not you'll be divorced from him." he asked incredulous.

"Yes I will be but that doesn't mean my heart will be in it. He will keep my heart forever whether he knows it or not. Also I can't be with you when I've already experienced the best. Im sorry I can't settle for second best. It won't be fair for me or you. Im sure you'll find a nice girl that will love you completely. Good luck Mr. Thomas." She said and then walked out of the room.

I didn't even know I had silent tears falling down my face until I saw her worried face as she knelt in front of me frantically wiping the tears away.

"Edward are you okay?" She said, her voice nearing hysterics. It was the first emotion I heard in her voice since I told her I wanted a divorce.

"I'm fine Bella." I said quietly.

She nodded and stood up keeping a distance away from me. I had initiated the distance first and she adapted to it. She always did what I wanted.

My extremely selfless wife.

Our family didn't even know what was going on at this point. As far as they knew we were still the happy couple that got married three years ago.

We walked to my car in silence and got home where she went straight to the kitchen to make dinner as usual. When I did smell dinner I got up and went to the kitchen just as she set up a plate in my spot.

She cleaned up her mess and ate dinner at the counter while going over some student's papers she needed to grade.

I sighed an inaudible sigh.

We never had a proper dinner together anymore. She washed her plate and took mine from me and I walked out of the kitchen to our or what was our bedroom.

She slept in the guest room now.

"Goodnight Edward." She said softly passing by me.

"Goodnight, love" I said before I knew what I was saying.

She flinched but smiled anyway.

It didn't pass my notice that she had tears in her eyes. She quickly stumbled into her room and shut the door behind her.

Later on that night she whimpered in her sleep muttering my name. She did this every night. I as usual went into her room and took her into my arms. This was our nightly routine.

"Don't leave me please." She pleaded sounding so broken.

I had to choke down a sob. Eventually she calmed down enough to rest and I lay beside her on top of the covers watching her.

This was the only time I could really look at her. In our 3 years of marriage never have I seen her face look so filled with pain even in her sleep.

After about half an hour I retreated back to my room and fell asleep.

When I woke up it was to soft humming from downstairs.

I took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs to find Bella making breakfast softly humming to herself.

When she saw me she blushed but handed me a cup of coffee just the way I liked it.

"I'll be gone by the time you come home." She said after a moment.

"Why?" I asked.

"We're separated now Edward and I have to move out, courts orders." She said cleaning her mug.

"Where are you staying?" I asked handing my mug to her to wash.

She wouldn't let me wash my own mug.

"Im staying with my grandfather, he needs some help and I'll leave my number on the fridge if you need me and my key will be on your dresser." She said finally turning to me.

I nodded.

"Goodbye Isabella." I said gathering my things.

"Goodbye Edward." She whispered.

This was finally it, our final goodbye.

When I got back from work the house was empty and sure enough her key and phone numbers were where she said they'd be.


	2. Chapter 2

The next four months were horrible. I never slept a complete night without waking up in a cold sweat.

It was exactly four months and 7 days later that I ran into Bella. Her grandfather had a heart attack and Bella was with him.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Cullen." I said checking Elijah Swan's charts.

"Good afternoon Dr. Cullen." She said quietly, her eyes flickering to me before resting on her grandfather's face.

"Your grandfather is doing fine at the moment." I said placing the chart back in its spot and checking his vitals.

She smiled.

After that encounter she was at the hospital for the better part of the day.

Sometimes she would be working on her laptop or reading when I came in to check on her grandfather.

She did fall asleep a few times on the lumpy sofa's in his room and I usually took her to my office where there was a daybed and let her sleep there and take the couch in my room.

It kept going that way until 2 weeks after her grandfather was admitted. His condition was taking a turn for the worse since this morning.

"Bella" I said softly.

She looked at me.

Though she knew nothing about his condition she could sense something was wrong. "He's taken a turn for the worse." I stated bluntly.

She looked down and nodded.

"I expected that, he always wanted to die since my grandmother passed away." She said softly.

"I'm sorry" I said not really knowing what to say.

She looked up and smiled at me with her eyes filled with tears yet not a single one fell. She hadn't shed a single tear since a year ago.

Elijah Swan passed away at 7 in the morning the following day.

We had just gotten his body out of the room and when I returned Bella was sitting in the chair she sat in for past 2 weeks staring at nothing in particular.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and the same tingle flowed through my veins.

She looked at my hand then at my face.

Her eyes had tears and finally one spilt over.

With that first tear the others followed.

I picked her up and settled into the chair placing her in my lap as she cried into my chest. Her sobs wracked her delicate frame and I could feel her tears seep into my scrubs but I couldn't think of that now.

All I could think of was comforting my wife in her time of need though I was selfish.

I wanted to hold her and keep her there.

That's when I realized I still loved her.

I loved her and for some stupid reason we fought and things escalated to the point where I was clouded by anger and wanted to divorce her.

I mentally kicked myself though I needed more than a good kicking.

I wanted her to hate me though if anything she said in the lawyer's office was true I was sure that wasn't the case.

I rubbed her back and buried my face in her hair. Her tiny hands clung to my shirt as she sobbed.

Too soon for my liking she composed her self.

Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. There were tear streaks running down her red face. She was beautiful.

"Sorry" she said attempting to climb off my lap but I tightened my hold on her which forced her to look at me.

"Don't be sorry, if you need me I'm here" I said and she smiled softly and this one did reach her eyes, but not to the full extent.

"Thank you" she said and attempted once again to get off my lap and I let her.

After that incident I never saw her at the hospital and the weight in my chest that prevented me from breathing properly was back.

The antidote to that weight was Bella.

I decided to stop by her grandfather's house after the third day.

When she opened the door she was in one of my shirts that she took after the first time we made love as a married couple and a pair of sweatpants.

My favorite outfit.

I internally groaned at the sight.

Usually I would take her right there but I didn't have that obligation nor the right to do that anymore.

"Can I come in?" I asked. She nodded minutely and opened the door wider so I could come in.

When I walked in there were boxes that were full and empty littered around the floor.

I raised an eyebrow and she answered the unspoken question.

"It's for my grandfather's funeral. I'm selling a few antiques and selling the house after wards. The things are going to storage."

"Why? Didn't you use the money from the bank account?" I asked.

"I'm about 500 short." She said looking down at her feet.

I lifted her face up by her chin forcing her to look into my eyes.

"What about the joint account?" I asked.

She looked away from me.

"I couldn't take that money, most of it is yours and that's not fair to you" she said.

"It's a joint account for a reason Bella; I want you to take that money." I said forcefully. She shook her head and stepped out of my grasp packing more boxes.

"If I take it then I'll have to pay you back, Edward I can't do that in the near future." She said.

I pulled her away from the box by the arm and turned her to face me.

"Bella where did you get the idea that you have to pay me back, you know better than anyone that I don't need that." I said as my grip on her arm loosened to wrap around her back.

She shook her head again and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Edward you know that in 2 months we're going to be two individuals, different individuals with different lives." She whispered.

I nodded just to appease her and silently left her house.

I knew what I had to do.

That night I called our lawyer and arranged a meeting for the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day I pulled up to Bella's house and used the spare key to let myself in.

The house was quiet as I quietly made my way to her room.

She was restless as usual in her sleep.

I kissed her forehead before gently shaking her.

She stirred and blinked sleepily before noticing me.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered and I could hear the sleep in her voice.

"We have a meeting with the lawyer in an hour so I came to get you." I said.

She sat up and that exposed her thin tank top with her nipples hardened and a pair of lacy boy shorts that hardly covered anything.

I was getting hard at the sight and closed my eyes and readjusted myself discreetly.

"I didn't know we had a meeting." She said getting out of bed and grabbing her clothes for the day.

"I set it up yesterday, it was pretty late and I was sure you fell asleep so I didn't call." I said.

She smiled faintly.

"Ill go get breakfast for you." I said getting up and she closed the door to the bathroom after nodding.

As I made her a cup of coffee after making me one, I tried not to think about the fact that she was in the shower without any clothes on.

Just as I plated the bacon and eggs she came into the room clothed with her hair wet but already drying into her natural curls at the ends.

I handed her the coffee and she smiled when she noticed I made it way the she liked and said a soft thank you.

I picked at my bacon while she ate. She noticed me not eating and put her fork down. "Did you already eat?" she asked quietly.

I shook my head and her eyes flashed in anger.

She was so unpredictable.

"Then eat, Edward I can't have you not eating." She said as she stood up from her chair and shoved a piece of bacon into my mouth.

I ate it while watching her in amusement and pulled her into my lap.

She pulled her plate towards her and fed me mine and while I chewed she ate her breakfast.

Yes my wife was unpredictable.

We arrived at the office right on time so the receptionist let us in first.

As planned Bella went first.

I could see her face crumple in pain as she saw what I had but I just smiled.

I brought out the divorce papers early.

She signed them and walked out of the office.

She didn't even make eye contact.

I didn't sign the papers when it came time to. Instead I ripped them up.

Bella saw what I did and her face looked completely shocked.

I walked out of that room and pulled her by the hand and helped her into my car and drove in the direction of my house as she came out of her shocked state.

"Edward we're heading to your house." She said confused.

I just curtly nodded and drove faster. Technically it wasn't my house. It was our home.

I parked the car in the driveway and got out and helped her out of the car and took her in. Once we reached the living room she stopped and forcefully pulled me to look at her.

"Edward I want some answers, you bring out the divorce papers, make me sign them and then rip them up and then drag me here." She said exasperated with her voice rising higher with each fact

I ran my hands through my hair and turned my back on her collecting my thoughts.

I was acting on impulse here and my thoughts were a huge jumbled mess.

"Damn it Bella, I don't know what is going on, I wish I knew, this whole thing has been a horrible mistake, I should have never wanted to get a divorce and it shouldn't have piled up this high. My life is a complete mess for the past year and I really don't know." I said finally turning to her.

Her face was blank, unfathomable; nothing I could do would give away what she was thinking.

So I continued with my rant.

"But I do know one thing: that divorce was wrong and that should have never happened. We should have spent the past year blissfully and maybe with a child at this point."

She blushed at that.

No matter how many kinky things we had done my Bella was still pure and innocent.

"I also know that I love you more than anything. You are my life and I don't know what id do without you. The past 4 months have been treacherous for lack of a better word. Only those brief moments at the hospital in those two weeks are what kept me sane for so long. I-I understand if you do want a divorce." I said my voice barely above a whisper.

I dropped to my knees as they gave out at the thought of her leaving me. The pain was already seeping into me and she hadn't even given me an answer.

I felt her drop to her knees before me.

When I looked up at her, she was glaring at me.

"Don't you dare ever question my love for you."

And with that she knocked me to the ground and crushed her lips to mine as her petite body molded itself into mine on top of me.

Once I got over the shock of the fact that my wife who I was about to divorce was kissing me I kissed her back, hard.

I had been deprived of her for a year and I was going to taste the wine, I had officially grown tired of just admiring the bouquet, a bouquet that was out of my reach for the past year.

I flipped her over onto the living room carpet and pulled my lips away from hers.

She was heaving and her tiny body was pressed tightly against mine so I could feel every curve.

"Yes or no, Isabella." I said staring into her eyes.

"For what?" she asked breathless.

" Would you like a divorce or not?" I asked sitting up and pulling her into my lap so she was straddling me.

"A definite no and my decision will not change for eternity." She said and that was all it took for me to crash my lips back to hers.

She managed to unbutton my shirt and her nails lightly scratched my chest making me hiss in pleasure.

She took that as her opportunity to thrust her tongue into my mouth and I picked her up and we blindly stumbled into our bedroom.

I laid her down on the bed and unbuttoned her shirt. Once I managed to get it off she sat up and unclasped her bra.

As soon as the material was removed from her I pushed her back down on the bed and attached my mouth to one.

Underneath me she moaned in satisfaction and rubbed her thighs together for some friction.

I wasted no time in getting both our clothes off and entering her.

She was so tight.

That was the undeniable proof of the fact that she wasn't with another man in the past year, not that I needed that proof, I trusted my wife more than I trusted myself.

She mewled and I groaned getting impossibly hard inside of her and twitched.

She gasped and wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me impossibly closer.

We made love slowly but forcefully that night.

"So what have we learned from this?" she asked afterward as she lay on my chest.

I laughed.

"That you and I love each other too much to ever let go of each other." I said.

She smiled.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too." I whispered back.

She lifted her head and I kissed her lightly and she smiled before resting her head back on my chest.

We fell asleep right after.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day I woke up hungry but that was soon forgotten because I felt a tiny body move closer to me.

A sensation I hadn't felt in so long.

Bella's hair was fanned out beneath her as her head was on my shoulder and her arm was wrapped around my torso.

She sighed my name in her sleep and snuggled even closer to me.

I smiled and pulled her body closer and buried my face in her hair.

She exhaled and smiled burrowing her face into my chest.

My stomach rumbled again and I sighed.

I placed her gently on the bed and wrapped the sheets around her and got dressed.

I decided to make a huge breakfast since we both hadn't eaten since breakfast yesterday. Emmett, Rose, Alice and Jasper decided to show up that day.

So while they ate half of the big breakfast Bella came down, showered and dressed in one of my shirts and a pair of flannel pants that she forgot here.

When she saw the coffee cup in my hand she reached out her arms out, opening and closing her hands like a child.

I chuckled and quickly poured some for her and made it just the way she liked it and handed it to her.

She took a sip smiling before kissing me on the cheek and sitting down on a bar stool with the others.

I piled food for both her and me onto a plate and placed it in front of her.

She picked up a piece of bacon and began nibbling on it.

I picked at a pancake with my fork as the 6 of us ate in comfortable silence.

Alice decided to break it.

"Bella, I haven't seen you in ages." She exclaimed and Bella smiled and hugged her friend.

"I seriously thought you two were getting a divorce or something." Jasper mumbled and we both choked on our food.

She gulped down some coffee and I copied her actions

. "What?" she asked clearly caught of guard.

"It's just that we haven't seen you in nearly 6 months so we thought something was going on." Rose clarified.

I shook my head and Bella blushed.

"I haven't even seen Edward in nearly six months; I had to move in with my grandfather when he was sick. We only saw each other when my grandfather was in the hospital. After he died I was busy packing things and so yeah. Yesterday was the first time we spent some time together in a long time." She said picking at her bacon.

They all offered her their condolences and hugs.

She sagged against me and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Can we please go shopping?" Alice pleaded.

"Alice" she whined.

* * *

"I have to get things ready before my grandfather's funeral tomorrow. Can we please go shopping another time?" She asked suddenly sounding worn.

Alice noticing her sudden demeanor nodded.

They left soon after and Bella got dressed and we dealt with the finer details of her grandfather's funeral.

That night we basically fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.

* * *

The next day was the funeral.

Bella was dressed in a flowing floor length black dress that under other circumstances would have looked amazing on her.

I was dressed in black slacks and a black button up.

We silently made it to the funeral home and met Charlie there.

We made sure the preparations were ready and went out to greet the guests.

Soon after the funeral was in full swing and Bella and I were seated in the front and she had tears streaming down her face but there wasn't a sound from her. I held her close and she allowed herself to relax against me as Elijah Swan's body was lowered into the Earth.

* * *

Since that fateful day Bella and I just picked up from where we left off.

She moved back in and we sold her grandfather's house.

My life couldn't get any better.

We fell into a simple routine that allowed us to spend so much time together.

I did get the wish for a child only it was a year later.

Exactly a year later Bella gave birth to a baby girl.

My own little Bella.

Elizabeth Charlize Cullen was born on May 29th at 7:21 a.m.

She had Bella's hair and my eyes.

Our daughter was the most amazing blessing I could have asked for other than her mother of course.

If it was one thing I had learned from this experience was that a woman was always behind a man's success and for me that woman was, is and always will be my Bella.


End file.
